Coal heaver



Dec. 12,1956 H. c. HILL 2,533,886

COAL HEAVER Filed Sept. 8, 1949 Patented Dec. 12, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CQAL HEAVE-R Harry 0. Hill, Pittsburgh Pa.

Application eptemberi3, I949, SeriaiNo. 114,655

4 Claims. 1

My invention consists in a new and improved mechanism or coal heaver for conveniently conveying'soli'd fuel preferably in the form of small "lumps from a supply source, such as a cellar bin, to the hopper of a mechanical s'toker.

In the case of mechanical stokers, especially those in domestic use, the stored supply-of fuel is usually located at some distance from the Stoker, thus preventing the replenishment of the latter with fuel except by considerable effort, such asby carrying-the fuel forsome distance in a shovel, such distance being too great to permit 'theattendant to reach the hopper of the stoker =by 'a single swing of the shovel without spilling a portion of the shovel load.

Thus the jobof providing an adequate supply 'of fuel'to the hopper is laborious and time-consuming,and usually-involves thesoiling of cloth- :ing'and the distribution of dust in the atmos- -Dhere.

'Theiobject which I have in view is the provision of a small portable implement which may be pushed by the operator along the floor of a 'storagebin or into a mass of fuel to automat- -ically 'pick up the latter and move .it intothe intake of a flexible conduit in which is mounted =a;screw conveyor, power-driven as 'by air-electric motor mounted on the implement, which conveyorcauses the picked up fuel totravel lengthwise through the flexible conduit to the discharge end of "the latter which preferably is inserted into the top of the stoker hopper.

"Other novel features of construction and ar- 'rangement of partsappear in the following description.

In the accompanying drawings, in which I illustrate my preferred embodiment of the prinnip'les of my present invention,

Fig. l is an end elevation of the implement, looking from the left in Fig. 2;

Fig.2 isaa front elevation of the implement;

;Fig..3'is"a broken. longitudinal section 'of the ilexible'conduit,showing the screw conveyor extending within the same, and

.Fig. lfis a cross-sectional View, on enlarged scale, taken along the line l-4 in Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings, "the outer housing or casing of the implement is formed of metal of proper thickness to provide the required strength and rigidity, and which is shown as comprising the horizontal flat floor ii! which extends forward materially beyond the front of the top wall II and the opposite end walls l2. l3 indicates :the rear wall of the vcasing whichex- .rtends upyertically from the rear edge .of the Ifioor [0. The top enclosure or wall ll of the casingmergesat its rear edge with the topoftlie "rear wall .I'3. The top wall H extends upwardly :and .forwardly from therear wall l3.in dome iformtoprovide .a .space..in which'is mounted an electric motor l5 positioned at an levation above the floor [0, as upon the platform I6.

of the mechanism-enclosed therein. supplied; to the motor by means of the'extension The top wall it extends downwardlynnd'routwe rdly asshown in Fig. 1 'andalsojtsendnedges diverge outwardly to extend to the planes :ofthe side edgesof'th'e floor m.

The front edge of the top wall H is "spaced above the floor Iii, thus providing a gateway I! in the form of an elongated rectangular slotextending forthe full width of the floor In and stepped back from the the front edge Iiiof'the latter, which edge extends forwardly tosactasa scoop which picks up th cfuel, as the implement is shoved forward, and feeds thesame to the screw conveyor through the gateway ll.

19 indicates a section of thescrew conveyor nionnted in the casing just-within the gateway i1 and extending for the full length of the same. .The discharge end ofthe section l9, the right enrliin'Figx;2,.has. itsaxialshaft 2% provided with ra'spacediconcentricring supported from'the shaft'flfi .by theradially extending "rib or iribs and the ring 2! is journaied in thecolla1-23 which, in turn, is rigidly mounted in-an opening inthe adjacent end walliiof the casing. The

other :end, the left end ofthe conveyorsection It extends througha bearing in the opposite end wallof the casing and has-mounted thereonia 'screw worrn gearwheelt i whichis in mesh with taohedto the mainhousing Ofi'thE implement and are thuslreadily. removable for cleaning or repair Energy is conductor fii'which leads ill through thehollow operating handle .32, past the. switch-33 to a plug forconnectingfthe conductor to the house wiring.

The: collar 23 protrudes outwardly through the 'wallof 1 the casing asshownin Fig. 2 s0.thatthe -intake:qend of the flexible cylindrical conveyor conduitmaybe stepped in the collarv to attach the aconveyor in operative position. Suitable meansnet shown, may beemployed to holdthe conduit l fast'toathelring.

.The screw conveyor rwithinthe conduit ;34:is formed :in relatively short sections, the axial shafts 35 of which are connected together at theiriadjoining iends by'the universal joints .35

and thesshaft of the first shaftsection :at the receiving end ofgthe conduit is likewise joined to thexshaft-Zii of the screw conveyor mounted in'the gateway.

.Thus the conduit which may .be .formed of rubber, spirally wound metal strips, or another suitable materials, remains flexible and may be to the stoker hopper or other depository and will,

accommodate itself to changes in position as the implement is moved along to pick up fuel and feed it to the conduit.

There are two very important advantages gained by the use of my improved coal heaver.

Thus in a domestic establishment wherein women or elderly persons are charged with maintaining a continuous supply of fuel to a mechanical stoker, the use of a shovel or basket for con' veyin the fuel from a bin to the hopper of the stoker is a burden too great, but which my improved implement effects mechanically except for the slight physical effort required of pushin the implement along the floor of the bin to feed the fuel into the gateway, which is easily accomplished.

Again, where a foreign substance, such as a nail, bolt, nut, a piece of wire, a stone or piece of wood gets into the hopper of a stoker and is a repair workman. Any object which will pass through the coal heaver will also pass through the stoker.

In the case of my improved coal heaver when such a foreign object is picked up by the heaver it stops the pick-up conveyor by throwing off the drive belt. Then the pick-up conveyor may be reversed in motion, as by means of a wrench and the foreign object backed out. The belt may then be replaced and the heaver is ready for operation. Such a repair does not require the services of a skilled mechanic.

I claim:

1. An implement, for conveniently conveying solid fuel from a relatively remote fuel bin or other supply to the intake of a mechanical stoker,

way as the implement is pushed forwardly into a mass of fuel, a screw conveyor section mounted to rotate in the housing in the rear of the gateway to receive fuel therethrough, means forming a port in the side wall of the housing at the delivery end of the screw conveyor section, a flexwhich consists of a housing containing an electric motor, flexible means for supplying operating current to the motor, the front of the housing being provided with a horizontally elongated gateway with the floor of thehousing extending forwardly therefrom to form a scoop for the intake of fuel as the housing is shoved forwardly into the supply of fuel, a screw conveyor section driven by the motor and mounted in the housing in the rear of and parallel with the gateway and arranged to receive the fuel scooped into the housing, means defining a port in the wall of the housing at the delivery end of said conveyor section through which the fuel is discharged by said conveyor, a flexible conveyor tube having its intake end connected to said port 7 arranged to receive fuel from the discharge end of the screen conveyor section, and means operatively connected to said screw conveyor and operated thereby extending longitudinally of the tube for causing the fuel to travel through the tube to the opposite extremity of the latter.

2. An implement, for the purposes described, comprising a housing provided with a horizontally elongated gateway in its front wall and a floor extending forwardly of the gateway to form a scoop to feed fuel inwardly through the gateible conveyor tube having its intake end connected to saidport and to which the fuel is fed by said conveyor section, flexible screw conveyor sections mounted within said tube arranged to cause the fuel received from the first mentioned conveyor section to travel through the tube to the delivery end thereof, and means mounted within the housing to rotate all of said conveyor means in unison.

3. An implement, for the purposes described, comprising a housing provided with a horizontally elongated gateway in its front wall and a floor extending forwardly beyond the gateway to form a scoop to admit fuel to the housing as the implement is pushed forwardly into a mass of solid fuel, a screw conveyor section rotatably mounted in the housing in the rear of said gateway and to which the fuel is fed by the advance of the implement, a port in one end wall of the housing through which the fuel is fed by the rotation of the conveyor section, a flexible tube having its intake end connected to said'port to receive fuel fed by the conveyor section, and a plurality of aligned screw conveyor sections in said housing and operatively connected to the first mentioned conveyor section to rotate in unison therewith and cause the fuel to travel along the flexible tube to the delivery end thereof.

4. An implement, for the purposes described, comprising a housing provided with a horizontally disposed opening in its front wall to form a gateway and the floor of the housing extending forwardly of the gateway to provide scoop means to feed fuel inwardly of thehousing as the implement is moved forwardly into a pile of fuel, an electric motor mounted within the housing, a conveyor screw driven by said motor and mounted to rotate in the housing in the rear and parallel to the gateway to engage the fuel introduced through the latter, means forming a port in the side wall of the housing at the delivery end of the screw conveyor, a flexible conveyor tube having its inner end connected to and communicating with the port, and a flexible screw conveyor structure extending longitudinally within the tube and operatively connected to the first mentioned screw conveyor to rotate therewith to cause the fuel delivered by the conveyor screw to the tube to travel out through the length of the latter.

HARRY C. HILL.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 617,830 Herran Jan. 17, 1899 1,468,977 Schiesari Sept. 25, 1923 1,804,565 Morrow May 12, 1931 1,865,145 Seidemann June 23, 1932 2,045,757 Constantin June 30, 1936 2,171,075 Blazier Aug. 29, 1939 2,191,219 Peltz s Feb. 20, 1940 Tuttle Oct. 1, 1946 

